Sunday Salon: Rom Coms by Emily Henry

 

Funny Story by Emily Henry, April 23, 2024; Berkley
Genre: romantic comedy

I loved the plot premise, the exes of two people getting together as roommates and making things work. The first half of the book held my interest, but then the interactions between the two roommates, Daphne and Miles, both dumped by their lovers, becomes long and drawn out, when we already can guess the final outcome of this unlikely romantic involvement.

I think Funny Story could be cut by a third and still be an original and enjoyable romance. I know all the Emily Henry fans could disagree with me, but I'd love to see this romance as a shorter book. What did you think? 

Previous Books

Beach Read by Emily Henry, May 19, 2020; Berkley

The author says this book is about a writer's block. I read it as about a woman dealing with a recent breakup and a family death and a secret that she finds devastating.  It's also about a man dealing with a similar breakup and an equally devastating family past. They are both published authors who find themselves living in beach cottages right next to each other. 

But the romance is slow, very slow as the two get to know each other, taking their sweet time that is sometimes aggravating for the reader. They decide to swap genres and write a book the other would write. She a literary fiction novel with a dark bent, and he a romance.  How do they do? It's slow, let me tell you. But a rewarding read when the woman begins to theorize and philosophize about life,  while falling in love.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry, May 3, 2022; Berkley

I liked this bookish couple, Nora, a literary agent, and Charles, a book editor, who meet at a small out of the way town, the subject of a bestselling book promoted by Nora. There, in spite of their differences and their strange attraction to one another, they collaborate on a new book by Nora's best selling author, which draws them in close proximity.

Nora's life is complicated by her continuing devotion to younger sister Libby, for whom she has made sacrifices that Libby is not aware of. Romance and family ties are inherent to the plot of this rom com and the themes are developed accordingly. The slow burn romance between Charles and Nora had me impatient and flipping the pages, however, and instead of prolonging the romantic suspense, the situation just left me wanting, like Nora, to flip to the end of the book to see if I liked the ending.

All's well that ends well, however, although I do wish the romance between Nora and Charles had been speeded up a bit.

 

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

A slow read for me that lost my interest. I flipped to the end and saw the problem in the relationship: the guy was afraid to be happy! (his words)  That helped to resolve this love situation.

Happy Place by Emily Henry, April 25, 2023; Berkley

The story is of former lovers, now barely friends, who must pretend to still be in love and engaged to be married! They are stuck with their best friends in a vacation home by the sea in Maine, and must share a room with a king sized bed, not twin beds. The suspense in the novel hangs on this trope - former lovers pretending to still be in love.

 
Most of the book details all the friends enjoying shopping, cooking, eating and drinking on their beach vacation, being together as an annual ritual soon to be broken when the vacation home is sold. The pretence of Harriet and Wyn leads to a predictable ending, but the reader does spend time on vacation with the group and wishing for a happy ending.

A light beach read, that has one main romantic suspense theme. I wished for a more diverse plot with more angles to the story.

I liked Beach Read and Book Lovers best, the first two of the author's books, and gave them four stars. The other rom coms that follow were three stars for me, but still enjoyable.

New Arrival

I just love that ring on the cover of the book. Wonder how it fits into the detective story? 

Hunkeler's Secret: Inspector Hunkeler #4 

by Hansjorg Schneider, April 29, 2025; Bitter Lemon Press, translated from the German original

Source: ARC from Meryl Zegarek, public relations

Retired Inspector Hunkeler is hospitalized in his hometown of Basil, Switzerland, when he sees a nurse administering a lethal injection to his friend in the next bed. Was it just a dream of his and should he seek vengeance? 

The book poses ethical questions: justice vs retribution as it also explores how wartime events shaped Switzerland's identity and the tensions between their financial security and moral responsibility during WWII. 

What are you reading or watching this week? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday